Enforcement of foreign restraining orders

Purpose – This article aims to discuss the problems that the USA encountered when it first attempted to enact and apply legislation designed to facilitate the enforcement of foreign asset-preservation orders, the remedial legislation enacted to address those problems, and the recent success the US Government has had under that new legislation in restraining assets at the request of foreign courts so that they may be forfeited under foreign law. Design/methodology/approach – The article reviews the legislative history of the statute enacted to permit the enforcement of foreign restraining orders and analyzes the cases applying that statute before and after its amendment in 2010. Findings – Legislation in the USA now permits the federal courts to register and enforce orders issued by foreign courts for the purpose of preserving assets that are subject to forfeiture under foreign law. Originality/value – This is a cutting edge topic in which there has been a great deal of new law in the past three years.